


witchcraft

by RenderedReversed



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, F/M, Knight Luka, Lukabug, Lukanette, Secret Relationship, Witch Ladybug, onesided Ladrien, prince Adrien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 18:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18474817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenderedReversed/pseuds/RenderedReversed
Summary: Adrien has a crush on the beautiful, mysterious Mademoiselle Ladybug. Nino is supportive.Lukamight've beensupportive if he wasn't, you know, dating her.





	witchcraft

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nanimok](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanimok/gifts).



> To Nani, because sleep what sleep MARINETTE FIRST

This was not what Luka had in mind when he’d been assigned ‘babysitting duty.’

 _Say something_ , Nino mouthed, pointing at the little witch bubbling behind her cauldron pot. Prince Adrien returned the equivalence of a panicked _but what??_  look back at him. There was frantic gesturing. Significant non-verbal miscommunication. Luka leaned back against the counter and pretended he saw none of it.

He slid his gaze over to the witch herself. Ladybug continued to flit around her work station, busy as a bee as she tossed in the next ingredient.

“I’m afraid it’ll take a week or so to cure your…er, affliction,” she says, stirring thrice counter-clockwise. “Half transformations are always the most finnicky to deal with.”

The cat ears on top of Prince Adrien’s head wiggle. “No problem,” he rambles, “I don’t mind. I mean, I don’t mind _waiting_. Take all the time you need! I’ll take a, a cat nap, or something.”

Nino facepalms.

Ladybug looks up and blinks at him.

“You have a lovely home,” he says weakly.

“Oh,” she says, as if the thought had just occurred to her, “You don’t have anywhere to stay. No, of course you don’t; we’re in the middle of nowhere. I’ll have rooms prepared for you right away, Your Highness.”

And, with a snap of her fingers, she does. A broom from the corner of the room jolts to life and begins to make its way down the hall, followed by a bucket, a wash cloth, and several other cleaning supplies, presumably in the direction of the guest rooms.

“Um! That’d be—that’d be great, thank you—and you, uh, don’t have to be so formal! I mean, you’re doing me a big favor already—just, call me Adri—”

From somewhere in the back, a tea kettle whistles. Prince Adrien’s hands immediately go to his new set of ears, wincing. An embarrassing yowl had made its way out of his mouth.

Ladybug giggles. “A-paw-logies, Your Highness. We’ll get you some mufflers to help with the sound.”

The prince looks pathetically in love. “Call me Adrien,” he says.

“Adrien, then. Would you and your friends like some tea?”

“We would _love_ some.”

As Ladybug goes towards the kitchen, Nino sends Adrien two thumbs up. Adrien grins back.

Well, at least babysitting duty is easier than all the other knights had made it out to be. Aside from Nino, no one else voluntarily picked guard duty for Prince Adrien. He had a tendency to slip away and find trouble, which was the furthest thing from amusing in the king’s opinion, and no knight wanted to be caught in the crossfire of His Majesty’s wrath. They had drawn straws for this particular trip. Luka had drawn the shortest.

And it was quite the series of events that lead them to the Mademoiselle Ladybug’s shop. Coincidences, perhaps, or fate designed. Luck. Either way, Luka isn’t complaining.

Ladybug returns with a tray of pastries and four tea cups. Luka instinctively moves to help her with it.

“Thanks,” she says. Her smile’s small, but glows like the red of her dress. Secretive. Entertained.

Luka smiles back, the very same. “Of course.”

He helps set the table without another word.

Adrien looks dazzled by the small array of biscuits, cheese tarts, and treats, but also, quite equally, dazzled by _her_. Nino nudges him in the ribs. His eyes motion with a message, and when Adrien doesn’t appear quite called to action yet, he inclines his head pointedly across the table.

Adrien starts. Coughs. “These are delicious!” he says, “Did you make them yourself?”

“Mm,” Ladybug says. “Baking is one of my hobbies.”

Adrien grins. “They’re ladybugs!”

“I _do_ have a title to keep.”

“You’d eat your own kind?”

“Trust me, they don’t seem to mind.” And with that, Ladybug takes a small bite out of a ladybug-themed cookie. “See?”

True to her word, the cookies seem rather pleased at the prospect of being eaten; one flutters into Nino’s hand, as if coaxing him to try one. The cheese tarts shift around on the plate, jealous.

Ladybug taps the table with a finger. “Settle down, now. You’ll get your turn.”

The movement stops, but the magic doesn’t fade. Adrien stares at the cookie in his hand like it holds all the answers to the universe.

“Cool,” he whispers.

Ladybug looks pleased. Her eyes slide away for a moment, blue beneath her spotted mask, seeking just as magnets do for a pair. They catch on his. Her lips curve, and with a discreet flick of her wrist, the plate turns to place the arrangement of biscuits right in front of him.

Luka dips his head in thanks. Tasted by only a select few, there’s nothing quite like Ladybug’s pastries. They’re impossible to replicate.

Luka will take the chance now to indulge before he has to return to the capital.

“Is _everything_ magic here?”

Ladybug turns back to Adrien. His eyes are wide, puppy-like, curious. Cat ears perked. The capital does not have magic like here.

“In a manner of speaking,” Ladybug says, and settles down for a long explanation. “Technically, magic is all around us…”

Luka closes his eyes, exactly where he wants to be.

 

 

They call her Mademoiselle Ladybug, leader of the enigmatic Miraculous Coven.

 _Witches_ , people whisper; some in awe, many out of fear. The Miraculous are ancient and deep-rooted, but little is known of them.

Mademoiselle Ladybug is the face and the figurehead, but aside from her name and the fact of her existence, the world is left to wonder. Only those who need to know will know. The circle is kept small. Guardians, or gatekeepers, or both: the Miraculous maintain balance. Many foes exist that seek to disrupt that. The task to uphold it is a constant one.

Adrien buries his head in his hands. “She’s so perfect.”

Nino pats him on the back. “I know, dude. I went through the same thing with Alya.”

“She’s so? Cute??? I think I died hearing her laugh.”

Nino nods sagely. “That’s how it is.”

“No, I mean I literally almost _died_. I fell off a cliff and she saved me and _laughed_ and I almost considered doing it again just to hear her laugh a second time.”

“…Maybe don’t do that.”

Adrien groans. “I know, but I always just mess up around her! It’s like being in the presence of a goddess or something. She can literally just wiggle her pinky finger and the forest is falling over itself to do her bidding—which, I can relate to that, but you get what I mean! How can anyone deserve a goddess?”

“I mean yeah, that’s kind of intimidating, but she’s a pretty chill person?”

“That’s half the problem! We’ll just be talking and then she’ll make a joke or she’ll _smile_ and my mind will just—blank. I’ll forget what I’m saying and make a complete, utter fool of myself. She probably thinks I’m insane. How am I going to get her to like me if she thinks I'm crazy?”

Nino winces. “Hey, you never know! Maybe that’s her type!”

“Lunatics?”

“ _Funny guys_ ,” Nino says firmly. “You know, someone who’ll make her laugh. Girls dig a guy with a sense of humor.”

Luka knows for a fact that Ladybug’s type is not, actually, ‘funny guys.’

Adrien makes a sad warble.

Over the prince’s head, Nino looks at Luka. _Help,_ he mouths.

…Which is an irony all on its own, but he should at least make an _attempt_ at obeying the rules.

“Don’t overthink it,” Luka says gently.

Adrien turns his head to look at him.

"Ladybug isn't a shallow person. You've gotten to know each other by now. Do you think she thinks any less of you because you've stumbled on a couple words?"

"She's not that type of person," Adrien replies immediately.

Luka smiles. “Yes. Trust in what you know of her, the rapport you've built. We can't force another's opinions of us; we can only be sincere in our communication. Just remember that if you make your feelings known, that goes two ways, too. Feelings can't be forced. Her response is up to her.”

As Adrien mulls that over, Nino pulls him aside.

He looks conflicted as he asks, “Luka, why’d you say that?”

“I was just being realistic. Ladybug is her own person.” They’re close to the same height, but Luka is slightly taller. He peers down at Nino from that angle, gaze calm and steadfast. “Adrien can’t force her to reciprocate his feelings, and I doubt any one of us would want him to.”

Nino falters. He frowns. “I guess that’s true. But I don’t want to put him down either, you know? Adrien’s never really liked anyone before.”

Ah. Luka eases the weight of his stare to something milder. “Then it’s a good time to learn. It’s one thing to get to know someone; it’s another to respect them as a person who makes their own choices. There _is_ a person behind that mask, you know.”

Maybe some of that hits somewhere, because Nino pulls away. Luka lets out a soft breath of relief.

Adrien’s feelings are mostly pure; he bears no ill-will. It’s in the song his soul sings, admiration and longing chords to the melody whenever he’s around Ladybug. Luka hears. Luka listens. There is no harm in allowing what essentially boils down to hero worship of Ladybug—there are worse people a prince of a kingdom could admire.

And if Adrien confess what fledgling feelings he may have, Ladybug's perfectly capable of handling that herself. 

It wouldn’t be the first time someone fell in love with the image of Mademoiselle Ladybug, after all.

 

 

“—Luka, aren’t you supposed to be working?”

The words are harsh, but her heart sings _adoration_. Luka noses at her hair and nuzzles the crown of her head.

“Going through withdrawals,” he mumbles. “Can’t…with you so close, do you really expect me to stay away?”

Marinette laughs softly. “Hey, at least loosen up here. I might want to hug you, too.”

He instantly eases his grip around her middle and is rewarded when she turns in his arms to bury her face in his chest. He feels more than hears her hum, kissing the place above his heart. It knocks the breath out of him for a moment, and before he knows it, he’s pulling back just enough to implore her for an actual kiss.

Marinette hums into that one too. Her smile is contagious.

“I feel like we’re teenagers or something,” she murmurs between kisses, “sneaking around in the middle of the night…”

Luka laughs quietly. “It’s _our_ house.”

“Yes, and I’m also your boss who sent you out on that mission to the capital—which I’m really regretting, by the way.”

“The fox is current out-of-commission. Ladybug did what she thought was necessary.”

Marinette groans and nips at his jaw. “And _Marinette_ is feeling the consequences. Remind me again why I chose to make my boyfriend my snake…?”

“If memory serves, I made a very convincing argument,” quips Luka. He smiles against her forehead, hand squeezing her waist. “It feels odd not being in the nest, defending you. I miss you.”

“Ugh, Luka, don’t say things like that—”

“Your pout’s cute.”

“I might’ve sabotaged my own potion to stretch your visit out to a week instead of three days and I’ve been kinda feeling horrible about it,” Marinette mumbles, folding against him and letting him do what he likes. “Forgive me?”

Luka fights a smile. “Forgiven, if Ladybug will forgive me for being complacent in your moment of weakness.”

“Mmm. Thank you. She does.”

“Good.”

“Good…”

It’s an hour later that Marinette says, “Finish quickly, okay?”

“Rushing isn’t in my nature,” Luka reminds her gently, “But I also don’t like leaving you alone. I’ll get the job done and come back soon, alright?”

Marinette nods into his shoulder.

“Stay safe for me.”

“Mm…”

Luka rolls them over till they’re face to face. He brushes a stray strand of hair behind her ear, feels the heat of her cheek under his fingertips. Adrien had maybe felt a hint of it, but here, Luka's under the full force of her witchcraft, and he's spellbound.

Her song, the melody of her soul, plays in minor key.

“Is this your favorite, too?” she whispers.

There’s beauty in sadness—beauty in the promise of reunion. It’s a temporary sadness for a greater happiness. That, at least, Luka can accept.

He kisses her softly and says, “It’s yours. Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> this could've been longer but tbh I'm a little bored with adrien so


End file.
